


Beneath the storm

by ShadowSelene (Shadowdianne)



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, Pre-Relationship, S1
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-23
Updated: 2017-11-23
Packaged: 2019-02-06 02:05:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12807237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadowdianne/pseuds/ShadowSelene
Summary: Asked by anon via tumblr: Set in season 1, Emma sees Mayor Mills sneaking off somewhere, and she follows a little later. Emma is suspicious of what she's up to, and arrives at the stables. She comes in to see Mayor Mills galloping around on a horse, looking all young and free. She watches, and thinks a lot. Mayor Mills doesn't see her and gets down and cares for her horse. Maybe she could see Emma and she could tell a non magic version of Daniel, and Cora's parenting.





	Beneath the storm

Emma drummed her fingers against the steering wheel, narrowing her eyes as she stared at Storybrooke’s stables standing ahead of the road. The grey-hued sky silhouetted its form and as she hummed to herself she could feel the first of many minuscule droplets of water hitting the windscreen and reflecting the timid sunrays that did reached both her bug and Regina’s car.

Car she had been staring at for almost half an hour now after she had decided to follow the brunette back when she had seen her exiting her office with clouded eyes and pursed lips.

A part of Emma had doubted the second she had followed the brunette with her eyes, seeing the woman entering into her car and driving away with barely a glance at her back. Another part, the one who had grabbed her key cars and jumped into her own bug all but forgetting she had gone all the way down to the town hall to actually ask for a date with the woman, hadn’t really minded when she followed Regina through Storybrooke’s streets carefully trying not to get caught.

As Regina had left the town at her back, however, Emma had started to get worried and her worry had turned into confusion when the brunette had stopped in front of the stables. A quaint place Emma had already visited once or twice albeit not feeling it really welcoming.

Looking at the hour, the blonde bit down her lips and took a deep breath, not sure if it was time already for her to turn back to the safety of the town in where the possibility of the brunette finding her and trying to kill her were less than here. Curiosity, however, had brought her this far and so, without thinking it twice, she muttered a quick “fuck it” that was swallowed up by her bug before she clasped her keys with her right hand and walked out of the car.

The cold weather of fall hit her as she took two steps towards the structure, hands quickly transforming into fists into her jacket’s pockets as she took one look at if before biting her bottom lip. She hadn’t seen anyone but a puny caretaker last time she had needed to do her rounds so close to the forest’s line and a part of her wondered if that had been the reason why Regina had decided to visit the small place; a way of checking on it. Extricating her right hand from her pocket she run it through her tresses, not really knowing what to do.

A grunt was what decided it for her. Just as she was about to turn towards the car and pretend she hadn’t followed Regina to Storybrooke’s stables, a whine floated towards her, brought to her by the wind that surrounded the place and made the leaves of the surrounding trees shiver and mutter around Emma as the blonde glanced around her, trying to see where the sound was coming from.

Realizing that more than the wooden building the plain that stood behind it was also part of the stables, she took several more steps into that direction until the sight of a galloping horse around the plain made her frown.

And if her mind had wondered already all the reasons possible for Regina to have  had left in the middle of the day only to drive to the stables what she found was something she hadn’t truly thought about because in the middle of the yard, quickly approaching while stirring an animal Emma truly felt terrified for the unmistakable figure of the mayor stood against the greying sky, its shilouette black and brown in a riding ensemble that became more clear as she came closer.

The sight of Regina riding the animal was what made Emma halt, the cold wind hitting her mercilessly as she found herself staring, unable to say anything. She, Emma admitted, eyes squinted, didn’t look like the woman she had met before and for a second she could almost picture her in the book Henry didn’t stop talking about, saddle and all. The idea, despite everything Regina had accused her on doing and their ongoing feud, made her smile.

And as she walked back to the front façade of the building, bug’s on sight, she couldn’t but think how the brunette didn’t seem like the cold mayor she had previously encountered before but rather… someone younger.

Emma’s skin prickled at the thought and as she heard the grunt of the horse getting nearer, she squared her shoulders, her boots crunching the fallen leaves that created a sea of maroons, reds and yellows around her. She had still time, she reflected, to go back to the car but, somehow, that didn’t feel like an option.

* * *

 

“So, this is where you come whenever you don’t feel like sending me out of town?

Regina didn’t startle as Emma walked inside the structure, her hands caressing the horse’s mane. She, however, sent the blonde a murderous look once she turned towards her, the shadows casted by the quickly dying light outside running down her clothing which, Emma confirmed as she tried her best not to stare, was definetely different than the power suits she had come to associate with the brunette.

“I guess asking why you are not working is a waste of time, Miss Swan.”

Emma could feel vague rage she always felt close to Regina clouding her sight as she pointed at the older woman, not letting her flustered state shown as she kept on taking into the image of Regina’s riding pants.

“I could ask you the same thing.”

Regina sighed deeply, her knuckles protruding as she glanced briefly at the horse she had been riding.

“I don’t need to explain myself, Sheriff. I’m your superior.”

Emma narrowed her eyes and shrugged, the usual fire returning to her chest. Much more manageable, she thought while taking one despondent step towards Regina, that the thoughts that had entered into her head after seeing Regina riding.

“Then I don’t need to tell you how I need to do my rounds, madam mayor. I just happened to be near.”

Regina almost growled at her, approaching her as she tensed her upper body. Emma could feel her own body shagging in response and for that she frowned inwardly, not having really expected her mood to sway so rapidly.

“Do what you please then.”

The words were void of any fire and Emma considered leaving it like that, turning and leaving, pretending to have not seen Regina seeming carefree, happy, and not an ounce of the woman she now had in front of her.

She, however, didn’t stop and so she spoke again, unsure.

“I never would have considered you the type who likes to ride.” A ghost of a teasing smile found its way at the end of her words and she could see Regina smiling slightly at them, suddenly relaxed and more like the woman she had momentarily looked like during the first minutes they had known each other.

“There is a type.”

There was a strange inflection on the “p”, brown eyes shining as the rumbling of the rain grew stronger above their heads, the smell of pasture clouding Emma’s thoughts as she, instead of halting, kept on speaking.

Her next words, however, fell flat.

“The ones whose horses were bought by their mothers, yes.”

The heat had returned but this time concelead by the ice-cold stare Regina directed at her, her elbows and cheeks angles painted in black as Emma felt the same tingling she had felt before on the tips of her fingers, making them twitch.

“Weren’t you leaving, sheriff?”

Regina hummed, still staring at her in the way that made Emma always think that the brunette was constantly playing a game of chess. Sucking on her breath and gritting her teeth, the blonde kept her own stare, doubt ebbing again as she channeled on her own anger at Regina’s spite. The brunette’s eyes were still dark, stormy, and for a moment Emma felt her whole-body tensing, sensing a fight that quickly left Regina’s posture as the horse at the stable pawed the hay-covered floor before neighing softly.

Turning towards the animal, Regina rose both of her hands and caressed the animal’s skin in soothing movements, her shoulders raising slightly as Emma kept on staring, hands on her pockets and not knowing what to do. Her throat, she realized when she swallowed as Regina kept on looking at the animal, felt raw and as seconds transformed into minutes she felt a wave of tiredness washing over her.

Sufficient, she realized once Regina steeled her back once again, turning towards her with fire on her eyes, to not want to keep fighting. For now, at least.

“There was a boy who taught me how to ride.” Regina’s voice reached her and Emma blinked, not sure why the brunette suddenly shared that kind of story with her. The older woman seemed as surprised as she was and for a second she rose her chin, pursing her lips into a thin line. Her voice was steady when she spoke again but Emma could hear the echo of something else entirely shimmering just below the surface. A detail she swallowed just as quickly as Regina kept on talking, lips devoid of makeup and disheveled hair that framed far too shinning pupils. “He died.”

Emma swallowed, seeing that there was more to the story, details that Regina was obviously hiding from her. Which, she thought as she took a big gulp of air, changing the weight of her body to the tips of her feet, was understandable.

“My mother didn’t buy me the pony, Miss Swan.” Regina’s anger was still there, burning yet controlled just on the brunette’s chest, coiling on the back of her gaze when Emma stared back at her. “She didn’t like him or how much time I spent riding but I adored it.”

Emma could see the tension growing inside of the brunette, clawing up her insides but she remained silent. She wasn’t sure that the brunette was talking to her anymore.

“I hated it as well, for a long time.” The whispered admission was soft enough for Emma to pretend she hadn’t listened but she did and for a moment the two women fell silent as the neigh of the horses filled the air, the creaking of the wind outside only growing as minutes passed. The scent of ozone filled the air and, for a moment, Emma could feel the hair at the back of her neck standing, reacting to the electricity that seemed to have started to fill the air around them as the already dim light all but disappeared from outside.

The storm was getting nearer.

Clearing her throat as it became apparent that Regina wasn’t going to continue, Emma glanced at her, the memory of her riding superimposing itself to the image she had had of her until now. It felt strange, she reflected, how little she suddenly didn’t want to fight as opposed as righteous she had felt less than two hours ago.

Just as the first thunder growled at some point still far away from the two of them, Regina’s whole posture changed once again. Hardening her features, the older woman crossed her arms in front of her, the glow on her eyes all but disappearing as she chased Emma’s gaze with her own.

“I’m sorry.” Emma replied at the end, a whisper that almost didn’t reach Regina.  Her words made the brunette smile sadly but scoff just as quick.

“Don’t be. You should still be doing your rounds, sheriff.”

And, as she turned back to the horse Emma knew the moment had passed.


End file.
